Reviews

Written by British playwright Christopher Hampton, and directed by Neil Armfield, A German Life reminds us both how shocking, and ordinary, war and its privations become, seen through the eyes of those who are aggrieved, and those who see themselves as ordinary citizens, doing whatever it takes to survive.

John Bell’s revived production of Tosca resets Puccini’s popular masterpiece from the Napoleonic era to 1943 when the Nazi’s took over Rome.

The celebrated Shakespearean actor/director brings a great theatrical detailing to this period production which, married to Puccini’s driving, melodramatic narrative, produces all the emotional excitement of a 1940’s Hollywood blockbuster.

A dinner party with dysfunctional friends is a well-worn theme and starheART Theatre’s original play Together packs in a lot of issues amongst the characters’ considerable flaws. Whilst everyone is a friend of the host, Brian (Thomas Tessema), not everyone knows each other at the outset.

Bella Green takes us through her journey from working at a fast-food joint to being an apprentice in a sex dungeon, without self-deprecation or self-pity – indeed, with genuine pride and refreshing confidence. Her stories smash through any stigma or discomfort that we, the audience, might be feeling. There’s none from Bella: she revels in the provocative, but it’s not all done for laughs. Bella quit her most degrading job because of her moral compass: not as a sex worker, but in a call centre for a bank.